


You Don't Get Any Take-Backs

by Inky_moro



Series: Anno Uno Scribere [100]
Category: Unus Annus - Fandom
Genre: Anno Uno Scribere, Based On: The Ultimate Trolley Problem, Feb 21, Memento mori, Poetic, Unus Annus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-22
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-19 09:41:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29624343
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Inky_moro/pseuds/Inky_moro
Summary: ~experiencing the trolley problem irl~
Series: Anno Uno Scribere [100]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2016157
Kudos: 1





	You Don't Get Any Take-Backs

You stand there,  
the wind is whistling through your hair   
biting at your skin as  
it rushes past   
so fast

You stand at a crossroads  
the ground beneath your feet is firm,  
solid  
and embedded in it is a lever  
you have no reason to pull it  
so instead  
you stomp a bit in place  
to combat the chill of the wind 

You stand  
at the crossing of the tracks   
and that is where you turn your head  
and that is where you look  
and see them

all the people  
tied down,  
wriggling like worms on the separate paths of the trolley tracks  
they are screaming   
but it has been lifted away by the wind   
far, far from your ears

but   
the wind does alert you  
to something else  
a whistle blows in the distance   
you turn your head   
and your eyes widen in horror  
as you see a trolley barrelling down the tracks  
and it hits you  
that the trolley will hit them

you have time to think,   
but you cannot figure what to do  
and thus,  
you can do nothing  
you stand there, frozen  
you stare   
and stare  
and stare

You stand there  
at the crossroads  
at the crossing of the tracks  
and your eyes follow the trolley   
watching as  
it whips past  
so fast

it stops for nothing  
leaves silence in its wake  
until  
you hear yourself screaming  
you feel yourself weeping  
the tears track down your face  
you fear you shall live in disgrace  
no one would forgive you for this, would they?  
you will never forgive yourself  
you cannot, because  
you could have done something

but you did nothing

Is it your fault that they’re now dead?  
Is their blood really on your hands?  
...  
does it matter?

if you could turn back time  
there are a number of things you’d do differently 

there are so many things you could’ve done

you could have pulled that lever  
saved five peoples’ lives  
their ghosts will now haunt you forever  
even if it is only in your mind

but even if you had done such a thing  
even if you had pulled that lever  
saved those peoples’ lives  
you would have doomed another  
It would be your fault that they had died

what else could you have done though?

now, now, don’t be fooled  
there is always another option  
you must learn to use your tools

you could have tried to untie the one  
gotten them to help the others  
the only problem here is time,   
would you have had the time to save their lives  
if you’d been smarter?

these questions will eat away at you  
make you wish that you had been on those tracks instead

maybe you could have saved them all,  
even if you ended up dead

you could have pulled the lever  
raced to that one kid  
united them, and told them to help the others  
make sure all their lives wouldn’t end

if you hadn’t enough time, however  
you would’ve had to push the one off of the tracks  
you would have had to take their place  
you wouldn’t get to think about do-overs or take-backs

you find yourself wishing that you could return  
back to those few moments in time  
so that you could fix this  
so that you could somehow make it all alright

sadly, you cannot  
you’re stuck   
and always will be  
with the decisions you’ve made   
Impetuously  
or not

with the decisions made for you  
by humans  
or by biology 

There’s always a decision  
A make-or-break moment   
that charts the course of history 

so take heed of every omen  
never forget to act  
and not stay frozen   
believe me when I say   
that time is your greatest opponent


End file.
